Aston Villa face two massive derby games against West Brom over the course of the next week, which will shape their season.

The club’s manager Tim Sherwood hasn’t had the impact he would have been hoping for after replacing Paul Lambert, but there is still time for him to guide the side to a decent position this season, which would be considered a success.

On the one hand, Villa have a huge game against the Baggies in the Premier League and on the other hand, they face the same side with the potential prospect of an FA Cup semi-final trip to Wembley on the cards.

It creates the question and dilemma for some Villa fans over what should be the priority; the league or cup success.

The answer has to be Premier League survival.

A trip to Wembley would create new opportunities for fans to chant at opposition supporters and it would be a grand day out, but the Premier League is the club’s bread and butter and vital to their long term future.

The recent new TV deal has increased the importance for clubs of staying in the top flight and there are numerous examples in the Championship of how difficult it can be for teams to break back in once they have dropped out.

Leeds, Derby, Wigan, Bolton, Middlesbrough and more have all been forced to endure prolonged spells in the Championship as they compete to get back into the Premier League.

The best approach for Sherwood has to be all out attack in the league tomorrow before the cup game at the weekend.

The changes could come at the weekend, but if Villa play well tomorrow, win and give their fans something to shout about, the players coming in for the FA Cup game could inspire the side to back-to-back victories.

However, that doesn’t change the fact that the importance of staying in the Premier League for Aston Villa is so much more important than a trip to Wembley.

Lewis Doe

Lewis Doe is a freelance writer and editor who seeks to bring you the biggest, smallest and most interesting stories from the football world. Lewis has previously written for some of the biggest football news and opinion sites in the world including FootballFanCast and Goal.com International. Lewis is also experienced writing in the betting industry and aims to deliver his stories with up to date factual and statistical information. He hopes to sum up stories for the site and provide an angle on the issue moving forward.Lewis is HITC Sport's La Liga correspondent.